Batteryback

Less than 3% of the over 400 million (14,000 tons) batteries that are consumed in Australia each year are recycled, the rest end up in landfill.

Batteries contain hazardous materials such as cadmium, mercury and lead that are harmful not only to the environment but also human health. These materials can leak from batteries contaminating soil and ground water. Although there are dangerous substances in batteries over 90% of these materials are valuable and can be recovered for recycling and use in new batteries and other products.

Close the Loop is a service provider to the Australian Battery Recycling Initiative (ABRI) who manage the Batteryback program in Victoria. Batteryback operates a ‘return it to retail’ model providing Victorians with drop-off bins at a number of retailers including participating Bunnings stores, Michael’s Camera Store, Better Batt and Hearlink.
Batteryback embraces the principals of product stewardship, seeking to engage industry, retailers and consumers towards a shared responsibility for the collection and recycling of products. The program is funded by the retailers as a clear commitment to their environmental stewardship.

After batteries are collected from the drop-off bins, they are transported to Close the Loop’s facility where they are weighed, sorted by chemistry and data captured. All the collected batteries are then shipped to our specialist battery recyclers, PF Metals in Melbourne, where the various chemistries are recovered for re-use. After grading of the various types of chemistries, they are then packaged and can be safely shipped to battery manufacturers for re-use in new battery manufacturing.

Since April 2013, Victorians have helped divert over 15 tonnes of household batteries from landfill through the Batteryback program.